# Things that would have made no sense 20 years ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369 "2026-04-18T20:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/1 "2026-04-18T20:31:51Z")
For instance - Tomorrow my wife and I will ride our electric bicycles to the pickleball courts. Sounds futuristic. It kind of is. I love my new bike. It needs a name. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/2 "2026-04-18T20:44:42Z")
What passes for a President of the United States these days. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/3 "2026-04-18T20:46:39Z")
Pickleball was created in 1965. Electric bicycles in the 1890s. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/4 "2026-04-18T20:57:40Z")
But it’s everywhere now. As are electric bikes. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/5 "2026-04-18T21:02:56Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Electric bicycles in the 1890s But you needed a really long extension cord way back then. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/6 "2026-04-18T21:25:28Z")
I occasionally screencap headlines that I know would be indecipherable in the past. I managed to find one of them: [![](https://i.ibb.co/4RfYvhZq/FB-IMG-1776547350215.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/4RfYvhZq/FB-IMG-1776547350215.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/7 "2026-04-18T21:35:16Z")
People putting “AI” into important positions that is so dumb that Kirk style “talk the AI to death” tactics actually works. Heck, remember when Skynet would actually have to _try_ to take over? If Skynet actually existed it wouldn’t have the time to try to take over the world before it found itself being shoved into everything down to household appliances. The way American politics _in general_ looks like a satire written by a left wing anti-American polemicist; not just anything specific, but the whole thing. A time traveler revealing the events of the last decade or so would be denounced as an obvious liar for the sheer absurdity of it all. The evil parts people would have believed, but not the ridiculousness. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/8 "2026-04-18T21:39:10Z")
Businesses that are “cashless” when you try to pay or a “service charge” if you use a credit card. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/9 "2026-04-18T21:45:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The way American politics _in general_ looks like a satire written by a left wing anti-American polemicist; not just anything specific, but the whole thing. A time traveler revealing the events of the last decade or so would be denounced as an obvious liar for the sheer absurdity of it all. The evil parts people would have believed, but not the ridiculousness. **Twenty** years ago was 2006. I think it was obvious then how absurd American politics could be. I think you would have to go back **forty** or **fifty** years ago to garner such astonished response. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/10 "2026-04-18T21:51:33Z")
Moderating: If this thread becomes political, it will be moved to P&E. Please keep this in mind when responding. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/11 "2026-04-18T22:12:38Z")
Paying one’s bills while riding in a car driven by an individual unaffiliated with anything resembling a taxi company. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/12 "2026-04-18T22:12:54Z")
“I’m watching a feature film (or a live football game) on my cell phone.” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/13 "2026-04-18T23:15:33Z")
I’m writing at this moment on a hand-sized computer using a satellite to transmit the signal from an airplane to a bookstore that has no physical store, and to a group of strangers all around the world, including a photo of my kitty. [![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCaMCJV3HUCUTQEkV66giK0Z2kqxW6O8TyBGYRgbVPI2cAiK9m6w0b6IuDFBWbxZztaga2bU8jJNQ1D1Vurl9MK0iPkTYnDU_-KgigT6i8O0Aacb8WewsZBk47ySkUI21q8jWiWX6WxV0zKOlv4ukT-UmEdRlF0QRbm3WKfzMYLPvWDGzFSVMBeXzIG8/s4000/1000017385.jpg) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCaMCJV3HUCUTQEkV66giK0Z2kqxW6O8TyBGYRgbVPI2cAiK9m6w0b6IuDFBWbxZztaga2bU8jJNQ1D1Vurl9MK0iPkTYnDU_-KgigT6i8O0Aacb8WewsZBk47ySkUI21q8jWiWX6WxV0zKOlv4ukT-UmEdRlF0QRbm3WKfzMYLPvWDGzFSVMBeXzIG8/s4000/1000017385.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/14 "2026-04-18T23:53:44Z")
I think all of these things would have made perfect sense in 2006. Bush was President. Look what they said about him at the time. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think things continued down that road. Phones could play videos, and we new they would eventually get better. Youtube existed. Laptops had cellular modems. Etc. What we didn’t have in 2006, we could still predict would be coming. Maybe not Uber, yet. And I think AI came sooner than people expected. But it would have made complete sense to someone in 2006 if you told them about AI. Things that would have made zero sense would be phrases like, “I used my couch to charge my doorbell.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/15 "2026-04-19T00:07:20Z")
Youtuber [Ryan George](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRE-UFLEgWzD3Ae5DSD1pZ1Su_ZI9rC1q&si=o-YP3vPiiQFz-m_C) has a series with a similar idea. The premise being a reporter from the 90’s interviewing someone that time traveled to, and is currently in, the 2020s, and hates everything about it. It’s kinda cheesy with him playing both parts (which is his shtick), but amusing nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/16 "2026-04-19T00:08:40Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > “I used my couch to charge my doorbell.” I forgot my money so I paid for my groceries with my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/17 "2026-04-19T00:30:18Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I think all of these things would have made perfect sense in 2006. Right. For instance, the bookstore without a physical location has been around since 1994. Some version of the majority of the tech we use was available just 20 years ago. To be inexplicable you have to use names. Like, I read a Tweet from The Weeknd on my iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/18 "2026-04-19T00:59:28Z")
My car got a software update. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/19 "2026-04-19T01:30:29Z")
My phone has porn on it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369/20 "2026-04-19T01:35:05Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Things that would have made zero sense would be phrases like, “I used my couch to charge my doorbell.” I’m thinking about how easy that phrase would be to explain to a technology-savvy person in 2006: “I used my couch to charge my doorbell.” “Waaaaa?” “They make basically WiFi webcams like doorbells for security. They charge using standard USB ports. Some modern furniture includes USB charging ports.” Simple. WiFi had been available for 9 years by 2006. USB for 10 years. Webcams for 15 years. Every element was already available and quickly explainable, it is just the combination that is novel. You need to go back further than 20 years to make it hard to explain. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-would-have-made-no-sense-20-years-ago/1029369.md?page=2)